Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

Vol. 11, No. 4 (2016) 496 - 515

© School of Engineering, Taylor’s University

LIQUID AIR AS AN ENERGY STORAGE: A REVIEW

YVONNE LIM1,*, MUSHTAK AL-ATABI1, RICHARD A. WILLIAMS2

1
School of Engineering, Taylor’s University, Taylor's Lakeside Campus,
No. 1 Jalan Taylor's, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor DE, Malaysia
2
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
*Corresponding Author: yvonne.limhuili@sd.taylors.edu.my

Abstract
With the increasing demand for energy due to rapid industrialisation and the
environmental concerns due to the usage of fossil fuels as the main energy
source, there is a shift towards renewable energy. However, the intermittent
nature of renewable energy requires energy produced during off-peak hours to
be stored. This paper explores the use of liquefied air as an energy storage, the
plausibility and the integration of liquefied air into existing framework, the role
of liquefied air as an energy storage in addressing the Grand Challenges for
Engineering as well as its employability in Malaysia.
Keywords: Liquid air, Energy storage, Liquefaction, Renewable energy, Grand
challenges for engineering.

1. Introduction
Liquid air is air liquefied at -196°C at atmospheric pressure. Traditionally, air is
separated to its constituents and the constituents such as oxygen and nitrogen are
liquefied for industrial purposes, as well as storage and transport. However, the
liquefaction of air, without the separation process; is being studied recently for its
energy storage capabilities. Liquefying air would convert electrical energy to cold
energy, stored and transported, if required; and then the energy can be extracted
by expanding the air. This would convert the cold energy stored to kinetic energy
to move turbines and generate electricity.
Energy storage is an important aspect of energy production, especially for
renewable energy applications. Energy demand fluctuates throughout the day and
various energy sources are used to supply the demand as seen in Fig. 1.

496
 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 497

Abbreviations
CAES Compressed Air Energy Storage
LAES Liquid Air Energy Storage

Fig. 1. Energy demand curve in Malaysia.

Therefore to maximise the efficiency of the power generation stations, energy

management technologies are used. Energy management technologies are divided
to supply side management and demand side management, where the supply or
demand of energy is manage respectively. The figure above shows an example of
supply side management. Energy storage is also a means of supply side
management. Energy storage systems convert and store electrical energy when the
power production exceeds the requirement and supply this energy during peak
hours. This allows the energy production to remain at a relatively constant level to
allow a more efficient operation.
The demand for energy is predicted to increase as rapid industrialisation and
globalisation takes place, this may lead to an energy crisis. According to BP’s
2013 review, the total amount of energy used in 2012 is 12,476 million tons of oil
equivalent (Mtoe) [1] or 495 quadrillion Btu. One ton of oil equivalent is the
energy released during the combustion of one ton of oil, giving an equivalent of
2.5x108 Btu. The energy consumption is projected to increase 1.6% per annum
from 2012 to 2030, giving a total increase of approximately 35% of global energy
demand [2]. Furthermore, these sources generate a lot of greenhouse gases which
deplete the ozone layer during energy production [3]. Hence, a technological shift
toward cleaner, non-exhaustible source of energy for energy production is
underway to address the concerns of depleting fossil fuel on energy security and
the environmental impact. Various types of renewable energy such as solar, wind,
oceanic power, etc, have been developed as an alternative to fossil fuels.
Renewable energy however, is often either weather and/or location dependent,
for example, solar energy is dependent upon the amount of sunlight present at a
particular time and location, wind energy is often located in plain fields located far
away from cities and wind speeds vary from time to time; therefore, the integration

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of renewable energy into the grid poses a challenge. Off-peak energy generated by
renewable sources is often wasted and energy generation on-site has to be delivered
to the end users in the cities. Energy storage can be used to store and transport
renewable energy and transport it to be used where and when required.
This review details the history of liquid air, the technologies involved in the
liquefaction of air, various studies that have been carried out on cryogenic
liquefaction, the overview of a liquid air economy and its feasibility in Malaysia,
the current studies of the liquefaction technology, and the applications of these to
the use of liquefied air as an energy storage, as well as in addressing the Grand
Challenges for Engineering.

2. Energy Storage Systems

Energy vectors as mentioned above are methods of storing and transporting
energy. Besides storing off-peak energy for renewable sources, energy storage
systems are also required to balance the electricity load and supply curve. This
helps even out the load distributions on the electricity production facilities,
allowing it to function at conditions near its optimum conditions. Flywheel
storage, batteries, supercapacitors, hydrogen storage, compressed air energy
storage and pumped hydro are examples of energy storage technologies [4]. There
are two ways of classifying energy storage systems, the first is by function,
second is by form. Energy storage by function is grouped into two categories,
power quality and reliability and energy [5].
Capacitors, supercapacitors, flywheel, batteries and superconducting magnetic
energy storage system are examples of energy storage systems used for short time
energy storage to ensure power quality and reliability of the supplied power [6].
On the other hand, pumped hydro storage, compressed air energy storage, large-
scale battery, fuel cell, solar fuel and thermal energy storage are examples of
energy management energy storage systems.
Energy storage can be categorised in terms of their form in which they store
energy. Electrical energy storage includes electrostatic energy storage which are
capacitors and supercapacitors and magnetic or current energy storage which
includes superconducting magnetic energy storage. Mechanical energy storage
stores energy in the form of kinetic energy and potential energy using flywheel
and pumped hydro storage and compressed air energy storage respectively.
Chemical energy storage systems storage energy in the form of electrochemical
energy, such as batteries; chemical energy, eg: fuel cells; and thermochemical
energy storage, eg: solar metal, solar hydrogen. Thermal energy storage stores
energy in the form of low temperature energy storage and high temperature
energy storage. Examples of low temperature energy storage include aquiferous
cold energy storage and cryogenic energy storage. Examples of high temperature
energy storage include sensible heat systems such as steam or hot water
accumulators, and latent heat systems such as phase change materials [5].
Cryogenically liquefied air functions as an energy management energy storage
system and is a form of thermal energy storage. A study carried out by Li et al.
compared the use of hydrogen, a chemical energy storage system, with cryogen
energy storage systems, which includes liquefied air; to store oceanic energy. The

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research studied the two forms in terms of efficiency of production, storage and
transportation as well as energy extraction. The study showed that cryogens have
a better potential to be an energy carried compared to hydrogen as it has few
technical challenges to overcome and can be combined easily with renewable
energies, is environmentally friendly and sustainable [7].
Cryogenically liquefied air is a cryogen and according to the second law of
thermodynamics, the high grade cold energy stored in cryogens is a more valuable
energy source than heat [8]. Cryogens store energy in the form of sensible and
latent heat. Even though the specific heat and phase change heat of cryogens and
heat storage material is in approximately the same magnitude, cryogens have
higher exergy density, making it a better thermal energy storage medium.

3. Liquefied Air
Air consists of approximately 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, and thus has
similar thermodynamics properties as nitrogen gas. Liquefied air is produced
cryogenically, at -196°C, which is the boiling point of nitrogen; at atmospheric
pressure. Liquefying air reduces the volume of air by 700 times. According to the
Centre for Low Carbon Futures, liquid air has the potential of being an effective
energy vector. Liquid air has been identified as a cheap, abundant and safe energy
vector to store such energy [9].
Air can be liquefied when renewable energy produced is greater than the grid
demand; this allows energy to be stored in the form of liquid air instead of being
wasted. Liquefaction of air can also be carried out when the energy demand from
the grid is low, eg. Off-peak hours (at night or at wee hours of the morning); so it
makes use of cheaper electricity tariffs to liquefy air.
Liquefied air can be stored in insulated vessels at low pressures and/or be
transported to be used when and where required [5]. The liquefied air can then be
regasified where and when excess energy is required. The expansion of liquid air can
be used to run turbines which generate electrical energy from mechanical energy; it
can also be used indirectly in Rankine or Brayton cycles as described in Section 5.
Figure 2 [10] shows the daily energy demand curve for a typical week in
Malaysia and the troughs and peaks in which liquefied air can be produced and
regasified. In Malaysia, for medium and high voltage industries, there are special
tariffs for peak and off-peak consumption of electricity. For example, the electricity
tariff for off-peak hours for medium voltage industries beginning 2014 is RM0.219
per kWh of electricity used, whereas the peak tariff is RM0.336 per kWh of
electricity used [11]. This would save the company RM0.117 per kWh or energy
used, which would translate to a large amount of savings of over a period of time.
Since liquid air vaporises at -196°C, the heat required to regasify liquid air can be
wholly attainable from the environment or using low grade waste heat from the
industry. Liquefaction plants can be located near power plants, either renewable or
conventional, or near industries, and it is not bound by geographical constraints [12].
One example of the employment of liquid air as an energy storage for power
generation is the Highview Power Storage facility. It is a fully functional pilot
plant connected to the UK power grid. It is hosted at the Slough Heat and Power
biomass plant. The liquefaction plant utilises off-peak electricity from the

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500 Y. Lim et al.

biomass plant to liquefy air, the liquid air is stored and regasified during peak
electricity demand to generate power to supply to the grid [12].

Fig. 2. Malaysian daily energy demand curve for a typical week [10].

4. Cryogenic Liquefaction Cycles

The use of liquefied gas has been employed in many important scientific and
engineering process which occur at cryogenic temperatures, temperatures below -
150°C or 123K. Liquefaction of gases has been used to increase the density of
gases to reduce the volume per unit mass for storage and transport. It also has
many other applications depending on the gas. Cryogenic liquefaction of natural
gas in base-load and peak shaving plants are used to store and transport natural
gas [13]. Liquefied carbon dioxide is used in fire extinguishers; it is also used oil
recovery to aid the recovery of oil from oil wells. Liquid nitrogen is used as a
cryopreservator of blood; and also in fire prevention systems in the industry [9].
Oxygen is liquefied for storage and for medical use. Recently, the development of
using liquid air to be used an energy storage [9]. There are many gas liquefaction
cycles in the industry, however, they are not necessarily only limited to the only
the gases they liquefy. Modifications can be done to cycles to allow them to
liquefy air efficiently. This section gives an insight into the gas liquefaction
processes available in the industry.
The Linde-Hampson cycle, also known as the Joule-Thomson cycle is the
simplest of all cryogenic refrigeration process [13]. Figure 3 shows the Linde-
Hampson cycle. It is a self-refrigeration process. In stream 1, makeup gas mixes
with uncondensed gas from the cycle. The mixture is compressed by an
isothermal compressor, increasing the pressure of the mixture. The temperature is
kept constant by rejecting compression heat to a coolant. The high pressure gas
then enters the heat exchanger where the gas is cooled by the uncondensed gas.
Exiting the heat exchanger, the gas is throttled through a throttle valve, the gas
expands and the temperature of the gas decreases, condensing the gas. The
resulting vapour-liquid mixture enters a phase separator where liquefied gas is
removed and uncondensed gas is recycled [15].

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 501

A stream of gas to be liquefied can be run parallel to the streams in the heat
exchanger co-current to the cold stream. This increases the heat transfer capacity
of the cycle. Figure 4 shows the liquefaction of natural gas using the Linde-
Hampson cycle.

Fig. 1. Linde-Hampson Cycle [15].

Fig. 2. Linde-Hampson cycle to liquefy natural gas [16].

Although the Linde-Hampson cycle is the simplest liquefaction cycle, it has

shown to have very low exergy efficiencies. Modifications to the Linde-Hampson
cycle to increase the exergy efficiency led to the development of the Claude cycle
and the Collins cycle [13].
The Claude cycle and the Collins cycle is a modification of the Linde-
Hampson cycle. The Claude cycle uses an expansion turbine in place of an
expansion valve. Figure 5 shows the Claude cycle. The Collins cycle is mainly

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502 Y. Lim et al.

used to liquefy helium. It uses two turbines unlike the Claude process which only
uses one. Fig. 4 shows the Collins liquefaction process.

Fig. 3. Claude liquefaction cycle [13].

Fig. 4. Collins liquefaction process [13].

Cascade cycles are used when the difference in temperature of the cold and
hot fluids is large and it is not possible to use only one pure refrigerant. Cascade
cycles are generally used in the natural gas liquefaction cycles as natural gas
consists of many different gases with different liquefaction temperatures. The
cascade cycle as shown in Fig. 5 has one common heat exchanger; the internal
cycle of the process cools the natural gas as well as the refrigerants in the external
cycle. Cascade cycle refrigerants allows for temperature profile which is similar
to the natural gas mixture, thus improving the cycle’s coefficient of performance.
The use of cascade cycles also provides better refrigerant load distribution, hence
decreasing the work required and increasing efficiency. Cascade cycles however
require more unit operations and hence higher start up and maintenance cost [16].

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 503

Fig. 5. Triple cascade cycle [16].

Mixed refrigerants are generally used in natural gas liquefaction processes.

Mixed refrigerants are used to liquefy natural gas as natural gas is made up of
various gaseous components, leading to a variable cooling curve. Hence, mixed
refrigerants with components which will give a cooling curve closely matching
the cooling curve of the natural gas is used to improve liquefaction efficiency
[16]. Lately, research has been done to liquefy nitrogen using mixed refrigerant to
increase the efficiency of the simple Linde-Hampson cycle. The study performed
by Venkatarathnam shows the various mixed refrigerant mixtures and the
operating temperature. This is compiled in Table 1. Hydrocarbon denotes a
mixture of methane, ethane and propane [17].

Table 1. Liquefaction temperature and the refrigerant mixture.

Temperature (K) Refrigerant mixture
70-120 Nitrogen-neon-hydrocarbon
80-120 Argon-nitrogen-neon-hydrocarbon
90-120 Nitrogen-hydrocarbon
120-150 Argon-hydrocarbon.

Fig8 shows a mixed refrigerant liquefaction cycle commonly used in natural

gas liquefaction. A double pass for the refrigerant cycle is used to effectively
control the temperature profile of the mixed refrigerant if intermediate separators
are used for the formed vapours; so that the composition of the mixture can be
regulated without disrupting the cycle operation.
Mixed refrigerant cycles are generally used in natural gas liquefaction cycles
and have been recently employed in liquefying nitrogen. Mixed refrigerant cycles
can be used to liquefy air as air consists of 78% by mole of nitrogen and hence
have similar thermodynamic properties as nitrogen gas. A double pass refrigerant
cycle may not be necessary as the composition of liquid air is constant and does
not vary, unlike natural gas. Since air liquefies at -196°C, which is 77K, the
mixed refrigerant should consist of a mixture of nitrogen, neon and hydrocarbon.

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The use of mixed refrigerant to liquefy air could reduce the liquefaction pressure,
making the process safer and more economical.

Fig. 8. Mixed refrigerant liquefaction cycle for natural gas [16].

The choice of the liquefaction cycle depends on its application; Table 2 gives
the comparison of the efficiencies of the liquefaction cycles.

Table 2. Efficiency of liquefaction cycle for natural gas.

Liquefaction cycles Maximum exergy
efficiency (%)
Linde-Hampson cycle 27.8 [15]
Claude cycle 60 [13]
Cascade cycle 88.4 [35]
Mixed refrigerant cycle 59.3 (using Linde-
Hampson cycle)
63.4 (using Claude
cycle) [13]

4. Extraction of Energy from Cryogens

There are four main methods of energy extraction from cryogens as summarised
by Li et al. [8]. The four methods are direct expansion method, indirect Rankine
cycle, indirect Brayton cycle, and the combined method.
The direct expansion method utilises cryogen pumped to a high pressure and
then heated to atmospheric pressure using the surrounding heat or available waste
heat. This is followed by the expansion process which drives turbines and
generated power. This is the simplest but most inefficient method to extract
energy from cryogens. It does not fully utilise the cold energy possessed by the
cryogen, energy is lost to the environment.

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A Rankine cycle converts thermal energy, either hot or cold to work. The heat
and cold sources are supplied externally to a closed-loop which utilises a phase
change material as the working fluid. When a cryogen is used as the heat sink in
the indirect Rankine cycle, it vapourises at a pressure that is at or slightly higher
than the ambient pressure. A working fluid with a liquefaction/boiling point
slightly higher than the cryogen would be an ideal working fluid to recover both
the latent cold and sensible cold released by the cryogen. The Rankine cycle is
effective method to extract the cryogenic energy if a working medium with a
slightly higher boiling point than the cryogen is used. The Rankine cycle uses
pumps to compress the working fluid, consuming a very small amount of work.
Hence overall efficiency will not be affected much by the irreversible
compression process. The recovery of cold released by the working fluid after
compression has to be addressed to increase the efficiency. The cascading cycle
can be a solution, but process optimisation is required to find a compromise
between the efficiency and the complexity.
The indirect Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle for gas turbines and
engines. The Brayton cycle uses working fluid which is pressurised using a
compressor instead of a pump in the Rankine cycle. The working fluid is a gas
throughout the Brayton cycle. The heat or cold transferred to the working fluid is
in the form of sensible heat or cold. The cryogenic energy can only be used to
cool the inlet gas of the compressor. The Brayton cycle is not effective to directly
recover cryogenic energy; this is because the cooling of the gas only requires
sensible heat. Loss of cold exergy is inevitable during the heat transfer process
which involves high grade latent heat even though the working fluid, the gas, can
be cooled to a very low temperature.
The combination method is the combination of the direct expansion method
and the Rankine cycle; the direct expansion method with the Brayton cycle; the
Rankine and Brayton cycle; and the direct expansion method with the Rankine
and Brayton cycle. It is a more effective way of extracting cryogenic energy. The
thermal exergy of the cryogen is converted to high pressure exergy. The cryogen
is pumped to a pressure above the critical point of the working fluid before
vaporisation. This is followed by direct expansion to form a supercritical open
cycle with only sensible heat discharged. For high grade heat sources, direct
expansion-Brayton hybrid is the most efficient for most cryogens except
hydrogen. For ambient and/or low grade heat sources, direct expansion-Rankine
cycle hybrid is more effective due to its low power consumption in the
compression process [8].
A study was carried out by Zotter et al. to study the use of Rankine cycle
variants on the energy extracted from liquid nitrogen energy storage system [6].
The study studied the efficiency of extraction of energy from liquid nitrogen
liquefied using wind power. The first variant of the Rankine cycle is a semi-
closed cycle with a compressor, heater, turbine, cooler, separator and throttle
valve. The nitrogen which remains as a gas after passing through the throttle
valve is vented into the atmosphere. The second variant uses three turbines in
succession with a heater using ambient heat as the heat source. The second variant
is an improvement of the first variant based on the study carried out on the first
variant in which to obtain a high overall efficiency, a high turbine work is
required and that any heat input does not influence the efficiency as heat is
obtained from the surroundings. The first variant only gives an overall system

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efficiency of 7.9%, with the improvements done on the second variant, an

efficiency of 12.9% is obtained. Although the overall efficiency for liquefied air
as an energy storage is low, the energy density of liquid nitrogen is approximately
10 times higher than compressed air energy storage. Furthermore, the use of
liquid nitrogen as an energy storage requires nitrogen to be separated from
atmospheric air, which requires a lot of energy. The direct use of air as an energy
storage would reduce the energy required and therefore improve the efficiency.
With more technological advances, liquid nitrogen may be a suitable energy
vector for wind energy.
In 2013, a study was carried out by Ameel et al. to study the performance of a
patented integrated Rankine-liquefaction cycle compared with a regular Rankine
cycle. The integrated cycle utilises the cold from the liquefied air entering the
Rankine cycle and the fraction of air which is not liquefied to reduce the
temperature of the air entering the liquefaction cycle. The combined cycle had
higher exergy efficiency as the liquefaction cycle utilised energy released from
the Rankine cycle, making it a more efficient process. Energy recovered from the
liquefied air using the Rankine cycle was 36.8% and that from the combined
cycle was 43.3%, an increase of 6.5% recovery efficiency, using high grade heat
of 800K may further increase the energy recovery of the process to approximately
70%. Although the improved efficiency is no match to the 75% recovery
efficiency as obtained when using compressed air as an energy storage. However,
the energy density of liquefied air as an energy storage is 20 times larger than
compressed air energy storage. By developing isothermal compression and
expansion as well as high efficiency heat exchangers, the competitive advantage
of liquefied air as an energy storage may be increased [18].

5. Application of Cryogens in Energy Production

There are industrial applications in power generation and energy storage using
liquid air or nitrogen.
There have been attempts to utilise cryogenic liquids as a means to fuel
vehicles but due to technological constraints and the rise of the internal
combustion engine, efforts have stalled. The first liquid air powered engine was
designed by the Liquid Air Company in the US in 1899. It was however bulky
and inefficient and the emergence of the internal combustion engine and
petroleum products resulted in the stop of the advancement of research into
cryogenic engines until the 1970s during the oil crisis [9].
A liquid air turbine was patented in 1950. The turbine was designed
specifically to run on liquid air as a driving medium. The motivation of the
turbine was to remove the need for the use of internal combustion, hence making
it a safer and cheaper process as material is not required to withstand high heat of
combustion. Furthermore, the use of liquid air would release no pollutants to the
atmosphere [19].
In 1969, Schwartzman patented a cryogenic engine system and method which
uses cryogenic gases, this includes liquid air, liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen and
liquid helium. The main objectives of the invention was to provide an engine
system which is not subjected to the restraints of requiring energy to transfer the

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 507

cryogenic fuel; to provide high conversion efficiency; and to not utilise

combustion and therefore reduce risks due to combustion. The system achieved a
73% Carnot efficiency using liquid nitrogen and liquid air, 93% for liquid
hydrogen, 99% for liquid helium. This shows that cryogens have a huge potential
as an energy system [20].
A liquid air engine was patented in 1976 to be used in power plants. The
purpose of using the liquid air engine is to not release any harmful substances into
the atmosphere. The invention suggests the use of liquid air as the fuel to generate
electricity in power plants using the expansion of liquid air to run turbine [21].
It can be seen that the use of liquefied air as an energy vector is not a novel
thing. However, these have not taken flight since their conception. Recent
advancement in technologies has propelled the feasibility of employing cryogens
as an energy store and to employ the energy stored to fuel vehicles, increasing its
competitiveness with conventional energy systems.
In 1998, the University of North Texas built a car which runs on liquid
nitrogen called the CooLN2Car which was modified to run using a closed
Brayton cycle cryogenic heat engine. With a few modifications to the engine, the
system is said to be able to run on liquid air [22].
In 2001, the Dearman engine was designed by Peter Dearman which utilises
the vapourisation of liquid air in an engine cylinder to drive pistons to run a car.
The technology is currently in its developmental stages but has the potential to
replace petrol and diesel to power vehicles [9].

6. A Liquid Air Economy

According to the Centre for Low Carbon Futures’ Liquid Air Technologies –
Guide to the future report, there is a potential for liquid air to be integrated into
existing infrastructures and employed for current use as well as a potential for
further development to provide energy across the UK [23].
A cryogenset is a power generator utilising cryogenically liquefied gases to
generate electricity. It can be used as back-up or small scale generators to utilise
liquefied gases. Besides that, a Dearman engine can also be used as a small scale
generator.
Industrial gas producers can be pioneers in the cryogenic manufacturing and
integration of liquefied gases in the company. Liquefiers can be run at night to
liquefy unwanted industrial gases such as nitrogen from the separation of oxygen
from air, utilising cheaper off-peak electricity. This liquefied gas can then be used
on-site as auxiliary or backup generators to generate electricity.
Liquefied natural gas, LNG plants can also be used integrated into the liquid
air economy. Waste cold generated from the liquefaction of natural gas can be
used to cool air before entering the liquefaction process, reducing the power
required to liquefy air.
Further development of liquid air can be integrated into existing
infrastructures to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The integration of liquefied
air into existing infrastructure addressed the grand challenge of restoring and

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improving existing infrastructure. Liquefiers could be placed in industrial parks,

low grade waste heat (<100°C) from the surrounding factories can be used to
provide heat to expand liquefied air to generate electricity for the industrial park.
Liquefied gases can also be transported elsewhere to be used. Datacentres can use
liquefied air for cooling the electrical components as well as for a backup
cryogenset. Logistic companies can use liquefied air in Dearman engine forklifts
and hybrid lorries. Supermarket distribution hubs can utilise liquefied air as a
backup cryogenset in case of emergencies as well as in Dearman engine
refrigeration unit trucks to run the trucks as well as keep food items fresh.
A liquid air economy can also be integrated into Malaysian infrastructure.
Malaysia, being a tropical country with a hot climate all year round relies heavily
on air-conditioning to regulate the indoor temperature. The integration of liquid
air as an energy storage would benefit largely from it as bulk of the energy needs
of business and organisations comes from air-conditioning. The use of liquid air
in buildings as an energy storage for cryogenset in case of emergencies or to
reduce dependence on the grid when extra power is required, the liquid air can be
circulated around the building to reduce the ambient indoor temperatures. The
heat required for expansion of liquid air can be obtained from the sun and this
requires so other additional heat energy.
Data centres are continually being outsourced from developed countries to
developing countries such as Malaysia. According to the MSC, it is projected that
approximately USD 10.9 billion worth of data centres are to be in the South East
Asian region. Malaysia aims to obtain a large slice of this market by increasing its
total area of data centres from 46,452 m2 (0.5 million sq-ft) to 464,520 m2 (5
million sq-ft) by 2020. There are currently 16 companies which have data centres
all over the nation specialising from disaster recovery to cloud computing to
storage. Many of these companies implement green technology measures to
reduce the environmental impact to the environment such as buildings which are
insulated from the outdoor heat and water cooling systems [24]. Liquid air
technology for backup power generation would provide security against power
outages and also provide a cooling medium for the data centres, reducing its
overall cooling load.
Malaysia is a country blessed with natural resources, one of which is natural
gas. Malaysia currently has three functioning natural liquefaction plants, which
makes up the Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak. It is one of the largest
liquefaction plants in world. The utilisation of this cold energy generated to
precool air before liquefaction to reduce the energy required to liquefy air.
Bintulu is a coastal town and a popular nature and wildlife tourist attraction. The
use of liquefied air produced from these LNG plants to generate electricity would
for tourist spots would reduce the environmental impact of these
commercialisations to the environment. Liquefied air can also be used to generate
electricity using cryogensets in more rural areas of Sarawak, hence providing the
rural folk with modern amenities which would improve the quality of life.
The Malaysian renewable energy scene is growing, the amount of renewable
energy generated is targeted at 986 MW of power or 5.5% of the total energy
produced by 2015 [25]. However, as of September 2012, only 74 MW of renewable
energy is connected to the grid, whereas 430 MW of energy is produced and used
off-grid by palm oil millers and solar hybrid systems. The Sustainable Energy

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 509

Development Authority (SEDA) in Malaysia has set a set a feed-in tariff for various
renewable energies into the grid to meet the 5.5% targeted renewable energy. 43%
of total capacity of solar energy generated, 26% of biomass and 5% of biogas is
targeted to be fed into the national grid [26]. As mentioned above, renewable energy
is intermittent in nature and restricted by location, hence, there are opportunities to
utilise liquid air as an energy storage for transport and storage of these renewable
energies to the grid. This would reduce the “wrong-time” energy wastage and make
renewable energy in Malaysia more viable.
There are many potential uses for liquefied air, but like all new technologies,
it has to “cross the chasm” so to speak from the early adopters to the mass market
for the technology to be widely accepted by the general public in the UK and in
Malaysia. To do this, industries and businesses must be well informed about the
economic potential of employing liquefied air in their various business activities,
the return on investment and the financial gains which may be expected.

7. Studies on Gas Liquefaction Processes

As seen above, liquefied air has a large potential as an energy storage system.
However, there are still various technical challenges faced especially those
pertaining to the efficiency of the liquefaction system and the extraction of energy.
There have been various studies carried out on liquefaction processes, in this section
the research carried out liquefaction of various gases will be discussed.
Many studies have been carried out by various researches studying the
performance of liquefaction cycles and how to optimise the cycles by increasing
the exergy efficiency of the cycle. Most research in gas liquefaction are carried
out to model and assess the natural gas liquefaction processes as it is the most
widespread liquefaction process in the industry and the most profitable, however
there are also studies on other gas liquefaction cycles.
Konoglu et al. modelled the Linde-Hampson cycle to liquefy air. The study
assumed oxygen to be the component in air which is liquefied. Konoglu et al.
employed numerical calculations to obtain performance parameters of air and
parametric studies were employed to study the effects of liquefaction and inlet gas
temperature on first and second law of thermodynamics parameters. They found
that increasing the liquefaction temperature and decreasing the inlet gas temperature
increases the mass fraction of gas liquefied, the coefficient of performance and
exergy efficiency while decreasing the energy consumed. The study suggested that
the method can be used to model other gas liquefaction process [15].
Morin et al. optimised the energy efficiency of the natural gas liquefaction
process using the evolutionary search method. The PRICO process and the
TEALARC process were modelled. The PRICO process is a simple liquefaction
process whereas the TEALARC process is a complicated process with many
variables. The evolutionary search method uses the theory of evolution to select
the optimal process conditions. The simulations were carried out using ASPEN
HYSYS. It is found that modelling complicated processes like the TEALARC
process using the evolutionary search method to find the optimal conditions
require less time and fine tuning [27].

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The modelling and simulation of natural gas liquefaction process were carried
out by Trigilio et al. The simulation was performed using Matlab. The
thermodynamic model for vapour-liquid equilibria and the energy properties was
calculated using the Peng and Robinson equation of state for the work and heat
calculations. The study modelled liquefaction of natural gas using cascade cycles
and using a regular cycle using a mixed refrigerant to determine the variables
which affect the process the most using sensitivity analysis. The study suggested
that the variable most affecting the cascade cycle is the high pressure of the
external cycle and that most affecting the mixed refrigerant cycle is the high
pressure of the cycle [16].
Optimal designs for natural gas liquefactions plants have also been carried
out using genetic algorithm. A study carried out by Li et al. utilised a developed
genetic algorithm based optimal design method using Matlab for building a
large scale gas liquefaction system by increasing the exergy efficiency of the
process. In the study, the exergy efficiency of a liquefaction process would
increase as the number of generation cycles increase up to 40 generations of
liquefied gas. The exergy efficiency would also increase if an optimised heat
exchanger network is used, liquefaction efficiency can be increased by using a
cryoturbine instead of a throttle valve. Cryoturbines reduces cold requirement
of the process and produces addition shaft power. A genetic algorithm based
optimal design method as shown in the study can be used to increase the
efficiency of a liquefaction process by suggesting a suitable configuration and
operating conditions [28].

Studies involving Mixed Refrigerants in Liquefaction Cycles

Studies on optimisation of mixed refrigerant processes for liquefaction of natural
gas have also been very widespread. A study on the design optimisation of a single
mixed refrigerant for natural gas liquefaction process using particle swarm
paradigm with nonlinear constraints was carried out by Khan and Lee [29]. Particle
swarm paradigm, PSP, coded in Matlab is a non-calculus based model which can
solve discontinuous, multimodal, non-convex challenges; it has few adjusting
parameters and functions well with a variety of applications which makes it
attractive to use. The single mixed refrigerant natural gas liquefaction process was
optimised using the paradigm by manipulating the key decision variables between
fixed bounds while satisfying the constraints. This was done to reduce the
compression energy requirement. The PSP obtained values of optimising variables
that ensured a small temperature difference between the hot and cold stream inside a
heat exchanger, resulting in an increase in exergy efficiency.
Mixed refrigeration cycles are also employed in liquefied natural gas floating,
production and offloading units, LNG FPSO. The feasibility of using dual mixed
refrigerant instead of single mixed refrigerant in LNG FPSO has been looked into.
The study was employed to minimise the compressor power needed in the dual
mixed refrigerant cycle using a mathematical model developed using
hybridisation optimisation method consisting of a genetic algorithm and
sequential quadratic programming. The study compares the conditions obtained
from the mathematical model with that of the study by Venkatarathnam in 2008.
The results obtained showed a 1.2% decrease in power using the operating
conditions obtained as compared to the study by Venkatarathnam [30].

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 511

The use of mixed refrigerants in multi-stream heat exchanger has also been
studied. Chang et al. studied the effect of using a multi-stream heat exchanger on
the performance of natural gas liquefaction using a single-stage mixed refrigerant
process. The study focused on how the temperature profile generated by process
modelling software, HYSYS, differs from the actual temperature profile and how
it affects the thermodynamic performance of liquefaction. The study showed that
the temperature profile generated using HYSYS and a minimum temperature
approach is difficult to achieve in practical multi-stream heat exchangers,
however it is achievable if proper heat-exchanger design is employed. For an
efficient liquefaction process, no direct heat exchange between hot streams in a
three stream heat exchanger is suggested [31].
Many assumptions were made when simulating the processes. One of the
assumptions made was that the heat exchanger functions at 100% efficiency and
that the compressor is adiabatic. In reality, there is no such thing as an ideal heat
exchanger. Heat is loss to the surroundings. There may be heat leaks in the
compressors leading to non-adiabatic conditions. This will affect the simulation
results. Furthermore, the properties of the mixed refrigerants are predicted by the
fluid packages available in the software used, the accuracy of the properties may
vary from each program, hence affecting the accuracy.

8. Suggested Further Studies on Liquefaction of Air

Many of the researches mentioned above are carried out on natural gas
liquefaction processes, and not many are carried out on the energy storage ability
of cryogenic gases. In order for liquid air technologies to achieve the efficiency
required to rival other energy storage systems.
Studies can be carried out to incorporate power recovery together with
liquefaction in order to maximise the use of the power input for liquefaction,
hence increasing the overall efficiency of the process. The incorporation of the
power recovery and liquefaction cycles to meet the demand of the local energy
grid is also an interesting prospect to venture into. It investigates the feasibility
and practicality of the technology into an existing system, liquefying air when
there is excess in power generation and regasifying air for power recovery during
peak hours of electricity usage.
Another technical aspect of liquefaction that can be looked into is the scale
effect of scaling down large liquefaction plants. Scale-ups in engineering design
is a common practice, however, scaling down from an existing design isn’t given
much attention. To scale down an existing liquefaction plant for local use such as
in factories and neighbourhoods is an important factor in the realisation of a liquid
air economy. Miniaturisation of liquefied natural gas plant is being implemented
in floating LNG platforms. Shell has just commissioned the voyage of Prelude, a
floating natural gas production platform planned to be operated off the Australian
shoreline [32]. Building the Prelude is said to be a challenge as engineers have to
design a working liquefaction plant to fit ¼ the size of regular onshore
liquefaction plants. Similar challenges would be faces when scaling down an air
liquefaction plant for local use.
Storing liquid air is doesn’t pose much of a challenge as there are existing
cryogenic gas storage specifications. Cryogenic storage vessels are double walled

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512 Y. Lim et al.

cylindrical tanks which a space in between the two walls containing an insulating
material. There is a need for the design of a more efficient thermal material for
these storage tanks to improve the insulation of the tanks, especially for the use in
tropical countries such as Malaysia where the ambient temperature is 29-32°C.
Air-conditioning systems and refrigeration systems have been an integral part
of modern day life for daily living to cool indoor spaces and to store food. It also
makes up bulk of the worldwide energy demand. If liquefied air energy storage
can be integrated to the cooling needs of the world, it would reduce the energy
demand, making liquefied air energy storage a more attractive method of
supplying power. Future studies on the incorporation of liquid air as an energy
storage may be a move to make liquefied air more commercially and
economically acceptable.
Furthermore, there is a need to develop a business model for liquefied air
energy storage systems; showing the potential economic viability of liquefied air
in order for investors, business and venture capitalist to fund the research and
pilot projects to integrate liquid air into existing infrastructure. A business model
would ease the transition of liquid air technology to “cross the chasm” from
research to large scale implementation.

9. Addressing the Grand Challenges for Engineering with Liquefied

Air as an Energy Storage
The Grand Challenges of Engineering is a set of 14 challenges identified by the
National Academy of Engineers in the USA which need to be addressed in order
for humanity to sustainably move into the 22nd century [33]. This project
addresses the grand challenges of making solar energy affordable and restoring
and improving urban infrastructure.
Malaysian climate has long periods of sunshine for most of the year, making
solar power a very viable renewable energy option to replace fossil fuels [34].
However, there is a need to find a cheaper alternative to the current
technologies. The use of liquefied air as an energy storage has the potential to
reduce the cost of solar energy. Solar energy is weather and time dependent, ie
we don’t get much sunlight when it rains, there is no sunshine at night; hence,
there is a need to store solar energy when the supply of solar energy is larger
than the demand. Air can be liquefied using the excess solar energy during this
period. This enables the solar energy which would otherwise be wasted to be
utilised, this allows for a shorter return on investment period for solar energy,
making it more affordable.
Infrastructure includes the buildings, facilities such as water, sewage and
electricity; and transportation in an area. Current infrastructures in major cities
around the world have high fossil fuel usage due to industrialisation and
modernisation. More energy is required to power data centres for the increasing
use of the World Wide Web, more petrol is required to fuel the millions of cars on
the face of the planet. This impacts the environment in a major way. The
integration of liquefied air as discussed above can improve the current state of the
infrastructure; it reduces the reliance on fossil fuels by using more renewable
sources. The use of renewable energy to power cities would reduce the
environmental impact, making the modern lifestyle more sustainable.

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 Liquefied Air as an Energy Storage: A Review 513

10. Conclusion
The review paper gives an overview of liquefied air, the potential it has as an
energy storage system, the current work that is being done in the space, the
technologies involved, the applications in Malaysia, as well as how it addresses
the Grand Challenges for Engineering. These are summarised below.
• It is seen that liquefied air has the potential of being an effective and
competitive energy storage system. The technology involved in liquefaction
has been widely employed in the industry and hence converting existing
systems to liquefy air would not pose large challenges.
• Liquefied air as an energy storage also has the potential of propelling
renewable energy usage in Malaysia as well as globally to greater heights by
utilising wrong time energy instead of letting it go to waste, thus reducing the
dependence on fossil fuels.
• However, much research still has to be conducted to make liquid air a
competitive energy storage system. The possible integration of power
recovery into air liquefaction systems and its connectivity to the grid is an
interesting prospect and a valid avenue to pursue.
• The effect of scaling large scale liquefaction plants down for more localised
used should also be given attention to.
• Liquefied air also has the potential to make a dent in addressing the Grand
Challenges for Engineering in terms of making solar energy affordable and
also to improve urban infrastructure.

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